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Friday, June 18, 2010

Religious Outfits: Should they be worn in the Americas?

Two days ago, I was talking with one of my friends, Jonathan. He was saying that if women in cultures where religious clothing is important, like the Muslim one, come to the Americas, should they have to take off the clothing? This has been a heated debate for a really long time now, so i wanted to rant about it. In my opinion, the hijaab is alright. After all, it only covers the woman's hair. Plus, it also looks pretty good on some people. BUT!! There's but! What if WE as Americans or Canadians (if you're from the Americas) go to their country, wouldn't we have to wear their hijaab? My friend Jonathan, or as i like to call him, Jonny Boy that they should have to take off the FULL BODY mask thingy. You know, the one that only reveals their eyes. I guess i sort of see his point, because how can we know who that person is? What if that person is lik... murderer or something? Shouldn't we see their face?? So, I think that Jonny Boy has a point.Sorta.What do you think??

I think you're referring to a burqa. This is a debate that pretty much comes down to culture clashes. Security is pretty much a weak argument as women wearing the burqa can be required to lift their veils for identification purposes and if we are concerned about hidden identities, do we need to ban hats, sunnies and hoodies too? Plus if wearing the burqa is something against your values and you would resent having to wear that in an Islamic country, it seems odd you would wish that on someone else. Moreover, that would maybe offend a sense of individual freedom but it doesn't really violate any fundamental value you might have as opposed to the religous rights enjoyed by these women. I know it was a pretty flippant post but I came across it and thought you might like the other side.

I know it's their culture, but i'm just saying that like, if we go to their country, wouldn't we have to wear the hijaab and the other thingy?? (Thnx for educating me on that BTW, The Female Hatter)-Jodiee

No worries, Jodie. Again it depends on what you mean. A lot of the women wearing the burqa or hijab in the US were probably born there and there parents may have been as well. In that sense, their country is America. If you're discussing muslim countries, some do require female tourists to don those clothes but at the end of the day, such countries have laws built upon religous values. On the other hand, the US and the rest of the West are generally, secular and focussed more on values of individual liberalism - meaning people should be able to wear whatever the heck they want.

Hmmm... true, the Americas are more open to clothing. But, i saw something on the nes last time that interested me: this Sikh kid had his kirpan but the school didn't want him to keep it with him because he could always hurt someone in the class with it. I think that that is a huge debate as well, because it's for his religion. He doesn't have the knife to kill anyone with it, just to protect people who need the protection. However, it's still dangerous because he COULD kill someone with it for no reason, so I see both sides of the debate. What do you think, readers?-Jodie

I think that is a slightly different scenario, because that is a legitimate security concern. Not because of his reasons but just because I would find a weapon around other children dangerous, what if someone else grabbed it for example. I would say the difference lies in the fact that everyone enjoys the right to wear whatever they want whereas, generally everyone is prohibited from carrying weapons in certain areas. It is interesting though, there's definitely two sides.